Secrets
by AerinM
Summary: Branch has a secret, and Poppy is full of misconceptions. A series of mini-ficlets based on several of the Fictober 2019 prompts. These were all initially posted to tumblr in October.
1. Chapter 1

_Fictober 19 day 18 prompt: "Secrets? I love secrets!"_

* * *

Branch had been busy lately. Well… busier than normal, anyway.

_It was suspicious._

Poppy had wanted to talk to him for the past several days, but he seemed to just be constantly unavailable. His failure to prioritize time with her was bothering Poppy - she pretended that it didn't, but everyone close to her could tell it did. There was a certain tiredness - almost sadness - that reflected in her eyes every time she found Branch, only for him to run away from her while she was hailed by yet another troll from the village. She'd even confided in Smidge that she was worried Branch didn't want to be around her anymore.

Well… Smidge wasn't about to let her best friend continue to suffer. Nope.

She was going to corner Branch and make him talk instead.

He wasn't too difficult to track - at least not for her, anyway - but he was _very_ difficult to surprise. Smidge tried to follow him through the forest to see what he was up to before she waylaid him. He kept stopping to sniff the air and listen intently, and she realized that he knew he was being followed. Eventually he simply stopped walking and said, "I know it's you, Smidge. You can come out of hiding."

Admitting defeat, Smidge walked out of the brush and into the light of day which filtered from the forest treetops above. "Hey, Branch," she greeted.

Branch quirked an eyebrow at her. "Why are you following me?" he asked.

A grumpy look formed on Smidge's face as she announced, "You've been avoiding Poppy."

His back stiffened for a moment, then he put on an obviously fake expression and started claiming innocence. "Me? What? Avoid Poppy? Nah. Me? _Me? _Why… why would I do that?"

Smidge was confused at his behavior. _Why is he acting like this?_

"Branch!" she barked. "Poppy wants to see you, but every time she's nearby you run away. She's upset - she thinks you don't want to be her 'special best friend' or whatever you are to her anymore."

"Wait - she thinks I don't _like_ her?" His eyes widened. "Ohhhh no. No no no."

"Oh no _what?_"

"I didn't mean for her to feel that way. I'm just… trying to get something done. That's all!" He tugged at his hair in mild distress.

"Dude. Chill." Whatever he was doing, the news that he was worrying Poppy seemed to really be bothering him. Smidge walked closer to him and stopped when she was a few steps away. She knew he appreciated it when his friends respected his personal bubble. Overcome with curiosity, she asked, "What are you doing, anyway?"

He tugged at his hair some more before he finally relented and seemed to come to some sort of resolution. "Okay, fine. I'll tell you… but it's a secret. You have to _promise_ not to tell Poppy."

Smidge's entire face lit up. "A secret? I _love_ secrets!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Fictober 19 day 8 prompt: "Can you stay?"_

* * *

"Wait… you said the _whole village_ is in on this!?" Smidge whisper-yelled. "_Except_ our friends? Why?!"

Branch cringed. "Well, uh… don't take this the wrong way, but um… you all _aren't that great_ at keeping secrets…"

Smidge tugged at her hair and stomped her feet. "Branch! Trolls _love_ surprises! All you have to say is '_keep this quiet, it's a surprise_,' and we will say, '_oh! I _love_ surprises!_' and then you'll have our help!"

"Really?" He pointedly stared at her. "You're telling me _right now_ that when you see Poppy again, you're not going to start acting all weird and secretive?"

"Of course not- oh, _hey_, Poppy! How are you? I didn't see you there! We're totally _not_ talking about surprises!" Smidge donned the fakest grin that Branch had ever seen. He slammed the palm of his hand into his face in reaction.

"Sure," Poppy greeted, quite obviously wondering why Smidge was behaving so strangely. "Hey, Branch." She gave him a small wave, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.

_Oh no._

Where was the light in her face? She wasn't as exuberant as normal. Why? Was it really just because he'd been busy? That was absolutely not what he'd intended to happen.

"Poppy," he began, "what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm okay," she answered, but Branch wasn't an idiot. Something was very obviously off with her. "What've you been up to lately? I haven't seen you in like… a week."

"Umm… well… I've been… gathering supplies for winter!" he said.

Poppy quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's spring," she stated.

"Yeah. Um. Best time for… for zapberries."

"Zapberries aren't real," she pointed out. "What are you being so secretive about?"

Smidge looked like she was going to burst. Branch sent her a sharp look to hopefully convince her to keep her mouth shut.

"Zapberries are _totally_ real. I can them. In jars. And, uh… eat them. For breakfast. In the winter."

Poppy rubbed the bridge of her nose. She looked exhausted. "Smidge, would you mind giving us a moment?" she asked. "I'd like to speak with Branch in private."

Smidge glanced frantically between Poppy and Branch, wondering what to do. Branch had work to finish - his plan was unfolding tonight. He tried to psychically _will_ her to remember that he needed her to keep Poppy busy and away from him today.

Plus, he couldn't lie. Not really. Not to Poppy. And he knew she would be asking pointed questions to try and figure out what he'd been doing and why he'd been avoiding her.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

_But it's too late now!_ He argued with himself. _I'm almost done!_

_Yeah, but look at her face. She doesn't seem happy._

"I have to get going," Branch said.

"Please, Branch," Poppy asked, reaching out for his hand. "Can you stay? I miss you." She looked like she was struggling to maintain her composure.

"_Poppy_," he began, his heart in his throat as he fully intended to cave and confess what he'd been up to, but he was interrupted before he could continue further.

"AAAHHHH POPPY I JUST REMEMBERED THAT TODAY IS MAKE A NEW FRIEND DAY AND YOU HAVE TO BE AT THE VILLAGE CENTER LET'S GO!" Smidge shouted, wrenching Poppy's hand from Branch's and pulling her back toward the village.

Poppy looked defeated.

Branch wondered if his surprise would be worth it for her. He hoped so.


	3. Chapter 3

_Fictober day 1 prompt: "It will be fun, trust me."_

—

"Aww, Poppy… cheer up!" Smidge prompted as she and her friend walked side-by-side. The day's festivities had ended and, miraculously, Poppy had escaped _without_ making a new friend for once. Then again, she already knew pretty much everyone in the village, so maybe it wouldn't have been a very achievable feat in the first place.

Poppy folded her arms across her chest. "There's another troll, isn't there?" she asked. "When he told me he loved me, he only meant as a friend."

The shorter troll stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait… he told you he _loved_ you!? When?!"

"You and everyone else heard it," Poppy continued. "When he first started singing again. I thought he meant that he _loved me _loved me, but all I ever seem to do is drive him crazy. And now he's been avoiding me all week. He's just trying to distance himself to make it easier on me, isn't he? He's Branch, _of course_ he's trying to make it easier on me. He's always so conscious of how the people around him are feeling, and I know he wouldn't _want_ to hurt me, but I just…" she trailed off.

Smidge's eyes were as round as cupcakes. "What're you trying to say?" she asked.

"I was hoping he loved me the same way that I love him." The pink troll uncrossed her arms and let them hang by her sides as she kept walking. "But I think… I think maybe I should… let him go. He's found happiness. Whoever this other troll is… I hope they know how lucky they are."

Poppy looked to her left when she heard feet stomping, and found Smidge with her hands balled into fists and breathing heavily. "Uh… Smidge…?"

"AAAHHHHH I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" she yelled. Then, after grabbing hold of Poppy's hand, she started running. "Come with me! The stupid troll _has_ to be done by now - and if he's not, then _he will be when we get there!_"

Utter bewilderment flashed across Poppy's face as she was pulled forward at top speed. "Smidge- wait! Where are we going?!"

"It'll be fun! Trust me!" her friend shouted back.

A couple of minutes later, Smidge finally let go of Poppy's wrist and took off into the forest. "Smidge!" the pink troll yelled. "Smidge! Where did you go?!"

She received no answer.

Poppy rolled her eyes and wondered why everyone was acting so _strange_ lately- wait. _Everyone_ had been acting strange.

Why hadn't she noticed before?

Whenever she'd spotted Branch this week and tried to talk to him, a troll had popped up out of nowhere and started asking her for help with something or otherwise taken her away from him. Her schedule had been much busier than usual, filled up with various trolls asking for just a few minutes of her time. She'd had to break up arguments which seemed rather halfhearted in the first place - almost as though they'd been _fake_. But why would everyone try to keep her so busy-?

Wait.

She'd overheard Branch and Smidge talking about a surprise earlier that day, and Branch's facial expression had made it look like he was surprised to see how hurt she was. And now Smidge had abandoned her on a seemingly random path in the forest. Upon closer inspection she realized that if she turned left, she'd head back to the village. If she turned right, she'd wind up at the lake.

Her hopes started to rise a bit, but she tried not to let them get _too_ high. It was more difficult to do that than she had anticipated.

She chose the path to the right, and after a short walk she wound up stumbling across a bunch of tents at the base of the hill she stood on - the type you'd set up for large events. Ropes hung overhead and glow bugs rested on them. It was sunset now, so Poppy figured the bugs would start casting light soon. The whole village appeared to be present, lawn chairs were everywhere, and so were a bunch of cooking fires. A ton of different, delightful scents filled the air.

Poppy smiled. A party!


	4. Chapter 4

_Fictober 19 day 5 prompt: "I might just kiss you."_

* * *

Branch found her before she could run down the hill to join the throng of trolls milling about between the tents and various cooking fires. He was holding a basket, but set it down at his feet when he saw her. "Hey, Poppy," he greeted cheerfully.

She spun around when she heard his voice. "Oh. Hi, Branch!" She pointed toward the festivities going on at the base of the hill. "What's the party for? Just because?"

He smiled and held out his hand to her. "About that… let's take a walk. Do you mind?"

_Please?_

Her eyes moved back and forth from his hand to his face several times before she accepted his offer to walk, although she didn't take his offered hand. Branch raised an eyebrow at that, but she didn't see it because she'd already started walking.

_In the wrong direction._

"Poppy…! Hang on! Wait!" he called, then ran to catch up. It didn't take him long to reach her, and when he did, he grabbed hold of her arm and turned her to her left. "There's a great trail over this way," he explained before he placed his hand on the small of her back in order to guide her toward the appropriate path.

She didn't shake off his hand, and Branch took that as a good sign, but about halfway through their walk Poppy suddenly stopped moving.

"I don't know if I can do this," she admitted aloud to Branch.

That piqued his interest. "Do what?" he asked.

She motioned back and forth between herself and Branch.

He felt like someone had dumped a full bucket of ice water directly into his stomach. "What… what do you mean?" he asked, his voice full of caution.

"There's… look. I figured out what's been going on, and I understand. I…" she briefly made eye contact before she returned her gaze to the ground and stopped talking.

Branch tried to keep his anxiety levels down, but he was having a difficult time doing so. She didn't want to be with him anymore? Well… they hadn't officially "_been together_" in the first place, he supposed, but he thought… had he misread the situation?

_Stop_, his subconscious firmly stated. _Does she really know what's been happening, or has she formed an incorrect conclusion based on her hurt feelings?_

"What do you think has been going on this week?" he asked.

She seemed to shrink in on herself, and it took her a few seconds to respond. When she did, her eyes were full of tears. She rubbed them as she spoke, her voice trembling. "You've fallen in love, haven't you?" she asked.

Branch blinked.

The anxiety flared up again.

_Is this too early? Should I have waited longer? Is she unhappy that I've fallen for her?_

_Maybe I should call it quits and go home._

_King Peppy was wrong. I knew it._

_No! _Once again, his inner voice of reason halted his errant train of thought. _Talk to her! Figure this out!_

"Well… yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head before he bowed it. "This isn't where I had wanted to talk about it, though," he mumbled.

Poppy rocked forward and backward on her feet, crossed her arms in front of her body in a protective gesture, and resumed walking in the direction they'd previously been going. They didn't make it far before she suddenly stopped again.

"Who is it?" she asked, staring at him in his eyes. "I mean… you don't have to tell me, I guess, but I thought we were _friends? _I thought you would've told me if you'd met someone special. I thought- ugh, never mind." She started walking again.

He blinked.

_She doesn't think it's her._

Things suddenly made more sense to him.

He ran to catch up with her again. "Hang on," he said once he'd reached her. She ignored his request and kept walking, so he stood in front of her in order to get her to stop.

"What is it, Branch? What more do you want from me?" Tears started welling up in her eyes again.

"Poppy… why are you crying?" he asked.

"I didn't think it would hurt this much," she admitted. "Can we keep walking? It helps to do something other than just stand and talk." She tried to move past him, but he enveloped her in a hug when she bumped into him.

Despite her heightened emotional state, she relaxed a little in his arms. He held her close and whispered in her ear, "It's you."

She scoffed and burrowed further into his shoulder. "Right. All I do is annoy you."

He pulled away from her and, with his hands on her shoulders, held her at arm's length. "It's always _been_ you."

Confusion was evident in her face, which was getting more difficult to see as night took the place of twilight. This was why he'd wanted to reach the very top of the hill before nightfall.

"You… you love me?"

Branch nodded his head and grabbed hold of one of her hands. "I do," he affirmed.

Maybe he was thankful for the darkness after all. It was hopefully hiding his blushing face.

Poppy looked like she wanted to keep talking, but he tugged on her hand in order to pull her out of her thoughts. "Come with me," he prompted. "We're almost there. Then we'll talk."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"You'll see," he answered.

* * *

A few moments later, they emerged from the trees and had a brilliant view of the night sky. Glittering stars and the pale moon worked together to bring light to the hilltop they'd walked to, while happy noises drifted up to them from far below where the rest of the village was. The lake glistened in the light from the heavens as well as the various campfires which dotted its shoreline.

The sight was stunning. Poppy let go of Branch's hand without really thinking about it as she walked closer to the edge of the hill. She took in the sight of everything around her, soaking it into her memory.

"This is beautiful, Branch," she said, taking a seat on the ground. She gestured next to her for Branch to sit, and he took her up on her offer.

Silence fell between them. Not necessarily an uncomfortable one, but not exactly relaxed, either. Many things still needed to be said.

"Branch, I-"

"Poppy-"

They spoke at the same time, then laughed a little at their own awkwardness.

"You first," Poppy said, gesturing to him.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings this week," he blurted. "I wanted to surprise you, and what I had in mind was going to take a lot of coordination. I needed time to set everything up; that's all.

"You're the most important person in my life. I'm so sorry if I made you feel like you were anything less than that this week. I promise I didn't do it on purpose, and I'll try to be more mindful in the future."

She placed her hand on top of his and entwined their fingers. It looked like she was planning to speak, but Branch resumed talking instead.

"I love you, Poppy," he said. "And I wanted to bring you here, tonight, to ask if you will allow me to court you."

Her eyes flew open at that question. "What?"

_Smooth, Poppy. Very smooth._

"Um… did you hear me?" he asked, obviously put off by her reaction.

"No! I mean, _yes! _I mean-"

_Get it together!_

"_I mean yes!_" she shouted as she tackled him to the ground in a fierce embrace. "Are you kidding me? _Yes!_"

Branch let out a sigh of relief and returned her hug. "Good, because this was going to be a really awkward party otherwise." He laughed at that thought and Poppy sat up.

"Wait… the party! You… the _whole village_ was in on this?!"

He smirked at her from where he was still laying on the ground. "Yep. Well… most of it, anyway. I didn't tell our close friends - or the trollings - until maybe an hour ago. They would've blabbed."

"_You_," she emphasized, "Organized and planned a party for the _entire village? By yourself?_"

He stood up and held his hand out to her. "Now you know why it took me so long," he stated.

"So wait - what exactly are they celebrating?"

"You," he explained. "And, well… your dad may have told them that we're, well…"

"Intended?"

His ears and face darkened. "Effectively."

Poppy laughed. "You asked to _court_ me, Branch. You know that that means marriage later, right?"

"I know perfectly well what that means," he said as he pulled her up into a standing position. "I just would've preferred to tell the village _after_ you said yes. That's all."

"There's no way I would have turned you down," she assured him.

He smiled at her. "Do you want to go join the throng of happy trolls?" he asked, pointing to the lakeshore where everyone had congregated. Glow bugs illuminated the partygoers quite nicely, and Branch was somewhat startled to see that the vast majority of the crowd below was looking up at him as though waiting for some sort of cue to throw the party into high gear.

Poppy stood by his side and looked down at her people, then grinned. "Of course," she stated. "But before we go… I might just kiss you."

His eyes opened wide. "I-I-I… um, that- I wouldn't say no-"

And he didn't.

The trolls below shouted, hooted and whistled, then broke out into song and dance. Poppy laughed and kissed Branch once more before pulling him down the hill at top speed in order to join the celebration.

For a day which had seemed like it would end in misery, she certainly was surprised and very pleased to be experiencing the opposite.


End file.
